EPA agrees to let Texas raise speed limit to 65 mph

Allen Jones

Published 6:00 pm, Wednesday, November 13, 2002

Tomball and Magnolia area commuters should already be seeing increased speed limits on toll roads all around the Houston area. State highways and byways in the eight-county Houston/Galveston clean air non attainment area are scheduled to follow suit.

Houston toll road authority workers were to begin switching out 55 mph signs with a new 65 mph speed limit this week. And, Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) officials say they should have signs on area highways and farm-to-market roads updated with 65 mph decals within 30 days.

Roads that once had speed limits of 70 mph, before they were reduced to 55 mph in May of this year, will be raised to 65 mph. And roads that once had speed limits of 65 mph will be increased from 55 mph to 60 mph.

Plans to change the signs were released Nov. 5 after Texas Governor Rick Perry announced Nov. 4 that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) request to make a change to the state's clean air plan.

The plan details how the area will ensure it meets the national health-based air quality standard for ozone. The plan included a measure wich reduced speed limits in an attempt to eliminate nitrogen oxide released by automobiles, a substance responsible for forming low level ozone.

TxDOT public information officer Janelle Gbur said her department already had plans to make the upgrade to area speed limit signs in anticipation of the EPA's approval. She said transportation department crews will utilize a reflective sheathing imprinted with the new speed limit that will cover existing numbers since signs were upgraded during the May change-over.

Gbur said TxDOT is responsible for changing out 3,200 55-mph signs in Harris, Fort Bend, Brazoria, Montgomery, Liberty, Waller, Chambers and Galveston counties - covering more than 1,200 miles of roadway. Last week, Gbur said the department was waiting for signs to dry after a string of stormy weather. She said sunshine will be helpful in allowing the sticky sheathing to adhere to the signs.

Gbur said the Metropolitan Transit Authority is responsible for changing out their own signs along toll roads. She added that the change out is not anticipated to take quite a long as it took the department to switch out signs reducing the limit to 55 mph earlier this year.

"We will start on interstates and move to major highways such as SH 249 and US 59 and US 290," she said. "The last segment of road for us to cover will be farm-to-market roads."

Gbur also said the transportation department originally estimated the change out to cost a half million dollars, however, the estimate is now at about $200,000. Gbur is also asking motorist to keep in mind that unless signs have been changed, the current speed limit is being enforced.

Governor Perry said the EPA's approval to reduce the speed limit under the clean air plan will make driving a little more convenient while also ensuring Texans are doing their part to clean the air.

"The EPA approved higher speed limits because Texas has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to cleaner air," he said in a statement released to the press Nov. 4.

Formerly known as the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, the TCEQ asked the EPA in September to consider recent clean air actions taken by the state and approve higher speed limits. The maximum speed limit had been lowered in May from 70 mph to 55 mph in the eight-county region as part of the state plan to comply with federal clean air standards by 2007.

Since then, the governor directed TxDOT to begin using cleaner diesel fuel in 75 percent of its Houston district fleet. He also ordered the agency to establish rules requiring its contractors working in Southeast Texas to use clearner-burning emulsified diesel fuel in off-road equipment.

According to Perry's office, TxDOT's initiative is expected to remove 5.8 tons of nitrogen oxide, considered a major component of air pollution, from the air each day. That, claim the governor's spokespeople, would amount to a reduction in emissions of at least 19 percent.

In addition, new computer modeling indicates emission reductions from a 55 mph speed limit may not have been as great as previously believed, said EPA regional administrator Gregg Cooke. He said the TCEQ will be making a full review of the data and that his agency agrees with the state environmental department that the increase in speed could be made to the state's clean air plan.

However, the increased speed may not last long. The EPA is essentially delaying the 55 mph reduction until May 1, 2005, allowing speed limits to be increased to a level 5 mph below the speed limit in place prior to May. In 2005, the speed limit would revert to 55 mph in all eight counties unless replacement emission reductions are fond by the TCEQ.

Texas was facing the loss of federal transportation funds if the state had not implemented the EPA approved emission reductionplan by the May deadline. According to the EPA, lower speed limits help reduce pollution from cars and trucks.

Ozone forms when strong sunlight and hot weather cause air pollutants like car exhaust to combine with oxides of nitrogen. Repeated exposure to ozone pollution, claims the EPA, could cause permanent damage to the lungs and triggers a variety of health problems including chest pains, coughing, nausea, throat irritation, and congestion. EPA officials also believe exposure can worsen bronchitis, heart disease, emphysema, and asthma and reduce lung capacity.